The Nomenclature of Seeing
Kevin Lim
"My short essay explores the relevance of insight… metaphors and visual literacy and curation of your particular style of work. The questionnaire is also a bit of fun and a pleasant icebreaker" Kevin Lim
Frame A
“The universe is true for us all and dissimilar to each of us.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
I realised from a very young age , that it was never really about what was happening but how we perceive things. Many masters of photography, including Graciela Iturbide cautions us that “photography is not the truth”, but merely our personal interpretation of the world we photograph. We are guided by our past so to speak, when making decisions in photography, by the world within us.
She said :
“What the eye sees is a synthesis of who you are and all you have learned. This is what I would call the language of photography - an intuitive act infused with all you have learned”.
Ansel Adams echoed her sentiment succinctly with the following thought :
“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
For me , the images we make represent an amalgamation of our personality and whatever lies in front of our lens that motivates us to release the shutter. More often than not factors such as personal beliefs, emotions, education among others that unconsciously influence the process of making images are not accounted for - we are simply not aware and for better or worse , do not know , that we do not know.
Frame B
“We believe that we can change the things around us in accordance with our desires—we believe it because otherwise we can see no favourable outcome. We do not think of the outcome which generally comes to pass and is also favourable: we do not succeed in changing things in accordance with our desires, but gradually our desires change. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant to us. We have failed to surmount the obstacle, as we were absolutely determined to do, but life has taken us round it, led us beyond it, and then if we turn round to gaze into the distance of the past, we can barely see it, so imperceptible has it become.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
Dr. David Bohm, the renowned theoretical physicist , offered us a truly elegant explanation that sums up the exquisite balance between our beliefs and what we experience as reality :
“Reality is what we take to be true. What we take to be true is what we believe. What we believe is based upon our perceptions. What we perceive depends on what we look for. What we look for depends on what we think. What we think depends on what we perceive. What we perceive determines what we believe. What we believe determines what we take to be true. What we take to be true is our reality.”
As humans we cannot resist the secure familiarity of comparisons that form our past and we naturally compensate with points of association in the present and what gives us comfort is not so much the meticulous depiction of reality that matters but the vision evoked within us that is important. We are but an intricate tapestry of reminiscences and beliefs and sentiments.
Frame C
“But sometimes illumination comes to our rescue at the very moment when all seems lost; we have knocked at every door and they open on nothing until, at last, we stumble unconsciously against the only one through which we can enter the kingdom we have sought in vain a hundred years - and it opens.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
When Proust was thirteen years old , he answered a questionnaire in an English-language confession book belonging to the family of his friend Antoinette, daughter of the then future French President Félix Faure, entitled "An Album to Record Thoughts, Feelings, etc." At that time, it was popular among the wealthy to answer such a list of questions that revealed the tastes and aspirations of the taker.
The Proust Questionnaire was and remains popular today due to the responses given by Proust as a teenager and by many other famous personalities. Perhaps we would like to have some fun answering similar questions contained in the questionnaire and in a small way enjoy gaining a little insight about ourselves, and at the same time realise that photography is:
More about vision ... Less representational... More figurative ... Less descriptive ... More feeling.
Frame D
Dear friends, I give you The Proust Questionnaire. Enjoy.
Questionnaire
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Where would you like to live?
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Who are your favourite heroes of fiction?
Who are your favourite characters in history?
Who are your favourite heroines in real life?
Who are your favourite heroines of fiction?
Your favourite painter?
Your favourite musician?
The quality you most admire in a man?
The quality you most admire in a woman?
Your favourite virtue?
Your favourite occupation?
Who would you have liked to be?
Your most marked characteristic?
What do you most value in your friends?
What is your principle defect?
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
What would you like to be?
What is your favourite colour?
What is your favourite flower?
What is your favourite bird?
Who are your favourite prose writers?
Who are your favourite poets?
Who are your heroes in real life?
Who are your favourite heroines of history?
What are your favourite names?
What is it you most dislike?
What historical figures do you most despise?
What event in history do you most admire?
What natural gift would you most like to possess?
How would you like to die?
What is your present state of mind?
What is your motto?
Dear friends please send associated images of Proustian moments that have deep significance to you
Batsceba Hardy answers
FRAME A
“The universe is true for us all and dissimilar to each of us.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
FRAME B
“We believe that we can change the things around us in accordance with our desires—we believe it because otherwise we can see no favourable outcome. We do not think of the outcome which generally comes to pass and is also favourable: we do not succeed in changing things in accordance with our desires, but gradually our desires change. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant to us. We have failed to surmount the obstacle, as we were absolutely determined to do, but life has taken us round it, led us beyond it, and then if we turn round to gaze into the distance of the past, we can barely see it, so imperceptible has it become.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
FRAME C
“But sometimes illumination comes to our rescue at the very moment when all seems lost; we have knocked at every door and they open on nothing until, at last, we stumble unconsciously against the only one through which we can enter the kingdom we have sought in vain a hundred years - and it opens.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
humiliation, losing the dignity of being human
Where would you like to live?
in Neverland
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
I do not know. happiness is a concept without boundaries. for me to be happy, it means to see a flower in a place where it should not be but also to sell a photo. for mankind it should be living in peace, because that depends on us
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
I am generally sympathetic and indulgent. I try to understand the reasons... but I have no clear the definition of faults
Who are your favourite heroes of fiction?
I have so many heroes, now perhaps not so many ... "Tommy River", a normal man (a character invented by an Italian writer) ... a character who has accompanied me from six to twenty-five years (when I was reading philosophy and Proust )
Who are your favourite characters in history?
Hannibal, Napoleon
Who are your favourite heroines in real life?
I have none
Who are your favourite heroines of fiction?
Pippi Longstocking
Your favourite painter?
too many! … ok... Il Veronese, Modigliani, Magritte, Hopper
Your favourite musician?
Mozart and The Cure
The quality you most admire in a man?
honesty
The quality you most admire in a woman?
honesty
Your favourite virtue?
Intelligence...
Your favourite occupation?
Think
Who would you have liked to be?
myself
Your most marked characteristic?
do not have superstructures
What do you most value in your friends?
friendship, personality
What is your principle defect?
what do you mean by defect? stubbornness? for me it can be a value
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
lose a child, a son
What would you like to be?
air
What is your favourite colour?
blue
What is your favourite flower?
poppy
What is your favourite bird?
the flying goose
Who are your favourite prose writers?
too many!
Who are your favourite poets?
Dylan Thomas and many others
Who are your heroes in real life?
I have none
Who are your favourite heroines of history?
Ipazia
What are your favourite names?
boh!
What is it you most dislike?
wickedness, cruelty
What historical figures do you most despise?
I despise anyone who could do something positive and did not do it
What event in history do you most admire?
the end of every war
What natural gift would you most like to possess?
fly when I was a child
How would you like to die?
I do not want to answer
What is your present state of mind?
normal, why?
What is your motto?
I am what I imagine…
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” S. Beckett
photos by Batsceba Hardy
Michael Kennedy answers
FRAME A
“The universe is true for us all and dissimilar to each of us.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
FRAME B
“We believe that we can change the things around us in accordance with our desires—we believe it because otherwise we can see no favourable outcome. We do not think of the outcome which generally comes to pass and is also favourable: we do not succeed in changing things in accordance with our desires, but gradually our desires change. The situation that we hoped to change because it was intolerable becomes unimportant to us. We have failed to surmount the obstacle, as we were absolutely determined to do, but life has taken us round it, led us beyond it, and then if we turn round to gaze into the distance of the past, we can barely see it, so imperceptible has it become.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
FRAME C
“But sometimes illumination comes to our rescue at the very moment when all seems lost; we have knocked at every door and they open on nothing until, at last, we stumble unconsciously against the only one through which we can enter the kingdom we have sought in vain a hundred years - and it opens.”
― Marcel Proust, In Search of Lost Time
FRAME D
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Surviving the death of one’s child.
Where would you like to live?
Summer in Lisbon, and winter in Bangkok
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
a committed companion who is willing to be a witness to my life
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
meaningless sex, mental inertia, stubbornness
Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Bond. James Bond.
Henry Chinaski
Who are your favorite characters in history?
Abraham Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant
William Tecumseh Sherman
U.S. General Douglas MacArthur
U.S. General George Patton
Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
My mother for providing me language skills and inspiring my love of literature
Mary Ellen Mark for her remarkable skills and dedication to documentary photography
Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Elizabeth Bennet
Your favorite painter?
Picasso … and Lucien Freud, and Edvard Munch
Your favorite musician?
John Lennon
The quality you most admire in a man?
the proper mix of intelligence and a sense of humor
The quality you most admire in a woman?
the proper mix of intelligence and a sense of humor
Your favorite virtue?
acts of kindness
Your favorite occupation?
writing and photography
Who would you have liked to be?
American actor Steve McQueen
Your most marked characteristic?
- an unwillingness to take authority figures seriously
What do you most value in your friends?
credibility
What is your principle defect?
a lack of tolerance for fools, dimwits, moral pygmies and general douch-baggery
What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
the death of a child
What would you like to be?
a person of worthy accomplishment
What is your favorite color?
blue
What is your favorite flower?
marijunana
What is your favorite bird?
—-
Who are your favorite prose writers?
Mark Twain, Henry Miller, Hunter S. Thompson, Christopher Hitchens and F. Scott Fitzgerald
Who are your favorite poets?
Robert Lowell and Charles Bukowski
Who are your heroes in real life?
teachers
Who are your favorite heroines of history?
Germaine de Stael
George Sands
Simone de Beauvoir
What are your favorite names?
Madison
What is it you most dislike?
People who use piety to cloak hypocrisy and justify avarice
What historical figures do you most despise?
Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Trump
What event in history do you most admire?
The end of World War I
What natural gift would you most like to possess?
the ability to sing
How would you like to die?
in my sleep, and with dignity
What is your present state of mind?
as reasonable as could be expected
What is your motto?
Don’t take shit from anyone.
photos by Michael Kennedy